diff --git a/dashboard/src/components/Headerbar.vue b/dashboard/src/components/Headerbar.vue
index d253626a4..d63528845 100644
--- a/dashboard/src/components/Headerbar.vue
+++ b/dashboard/src/components/Headerbar.vue
@@ -85,7 +85,7 @@ function onSubscriptionRequired() {
 
 const platformStatus = ref({
   message: '',
-  isReady: true,
+  state: '',
 });
 
 let platformTimeoutId = 0;
@@ -95,7 +95,7 @@ async function trackPlatformStatus() {
 
   platformStatus.value = result;
 
-  if (!result.isReady) platformTimeoutId = setTimeout(trackPlatformStatus, 5000);
+  if (result.state === 'starting') platformTimeoutId = setTimeout(trackPlatformStatus, 5000);
 }
 
 const description = marked.parse(t('support.help.description', {
@@ -158,8 +158,10 @@ onUnmounted(() => {
 
     <div style="flex-grow: 1;"></div>
 
-    <div v-if="!platformStatus.isReady" class="headerbar-info">
-      <Spinner style="margin-right: 10px"/> {{ platformStatus.message }}
+    <div v-if="platformStatus.state !== 'ready'" class="headerbar-info">
+      <i v-if="platformStatus.state === 'error'" class="fa fa-exclamation-triangle text-danger"/>
+      <Spinner v-if="platformStatus.state === 'starting'" style="margin-right: 10px"/>
+      {{ platformStatus.message }}
     </div>
 
     <!-- Warnings if subscription is expired or unpaid -->
diff --git a/src/platform.js b/src/platform.js
index e72d08c56..8e71e74ce 100644
--- a/src/platform.js
+++ b/src/platform.js
@@ -40,10 +40,10 @@ const apps = require('./apps.js'),
     volumes = require('./volumes.js'),
     _ = require('./underscore.js');
 
-let gStatusMessage = 'Initializing';
+const gStatus = { message: 'Initializing', state: 'starting' }; // starting, failed, ready are the states
 
 function getStatus() {
-    return { message: gStatusMessage, isReady: gStatusMessage === 'Ready' };
+    return gStatus;
 }
 
 async function pruneVolumes() {
@@ -105,7 +105,8 @@ async function markApps(existingInfra, restoreOptions) {
 
 async function onInfraReady(infraChanged) {
     debug(`onInfraReady: platform is ready. infra changed: ${infraChanged}`);
-    gStatusMessage = 'Ready';
+    gStatus.message = 'Ready';
+    gStatus.state = 'ready';
 
     if (infraChanged) await safe(pruneVolumes(), { debug }); // ignore error
     await apps.schedulePendingTasks(AuditSource.PLATFORM);
@@ -137,14 +138,14 @@ async function startInfra(restoreOptions) {
     for (let attempt = 0; attempt < 5; attempt++) {
         try {
             await markApps(existingInfra, restoreOptions); // mark app state before we start addons. this gives the db import logic a chance to mark an app as errored
-            gStatusMessage = 'Updating platform, this can take a while';
+            gStatus.message = 'Updating platform, this can take a while';
             if (existingInfra.version !== infra.version) {
-                gStatusMessage = 'Removing containers for upgrade';
+                gStatus.message = 'Removing containers for upgrade';
                 await removeAllContainers();
                 await createDockerNetwork();
             }
             if (existingInfra.version === 'none') await volumes.mountAll(); // when restoring, mount all volumes
-            gStatusMessage = 'Starting services, this can take a while';
+            gStatus.message = 'Starting services, this can take a while';
             await services.startServices(existingInfra);
             await fs.promises.writeFile(paths.INFRA_VERSION_FILE, JSON.stringify(infra, null, 4));
             break;
@@ -152,8 +153,12 @@ async function startInfra(restoreOptions) {
             // for some reason, mysql arbitrary restarts making startup tasks fail. this makes the box update stuck
             // LOST is when existing connection breaks. REFUSED is when new connection cannot connect at all
             const retry = error.reason === BoxError.DATABASE_ERROR && (error.code === 'PROTOCOL_CONNECTION_LOST' || error.code === 'ECONNREFUSED');
-            debug(`startInfra: Failed to start services. retry=${retry} (attempt ${attempt}): ${error.message}`);
-            if (!retry) throw error; // refuse to start
+            debug(`startInfra: Failed to start services. retry=${retry} (attempt ${attempt}): ${error}`);
+            if (!retry) {
+                gStatus.message = `Failed to start services. ${error.stdout ?? ''} ${error.stderr ?? ''}`;
+                gStatus.state = 'failed';
+                throw error; // refuse to start
+            }
             await timers.setTimeout(10000);
         }
     }